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THE AWAY END - PRIDE PARK - 17-12-07
John Powls
The Build Up To The Game
The result and performance against Arsenal were a bit like that stand out Christmas present you got as a kid. Everyone has had one - the one that made your eyes widen and your mouth drop open because it was as delightful as it was unexpected. The one you couldn't be out of sight of for too long in case Santa suddenly realised that it wasn't really for you (cock up on the naughty/nice front?) and came back to take it away.
The reaction on the websites since the win has been a bit like that too. Everyone was braced for a 'here we go again - another educational toy; this time I'm really going to tell them how much I hate it' experience. It was almost like we didn't know how to react when we got something different and all we have done is mumbled an incoherent and awed 'wow - thanks' and collectively pinched ourselves in case it wasn't real!
Latterly, though, we all echoed the sentiments that Gate offered straight after the game - a great result and performance but it will be for nothing if we return to our old ways against The Rams. Same again please was the view. A few players have chipped in along the same lines.
Aside from 'Tunny the Turkish goal engine' and 'for goodness sake, learn the lesson and don't pick Simba again' the focus of much of the rest of the discussion was around the semiotics of 'substituted with cramp' as far as Woody was concerned. What did the signs mean? Surely not cramp with a silent m? Will he be playing come Saturday? Was it the start of some exit strategy to fund bringing in a striker in January?
Everyone has had their own views, including Woody - according to those who claimed to be able to lip read what was said to Gate over the handshake as he left the field - a short lecture on sex and travel, apparently.
For Phil and I this Away End at Derby County was the return leg of a double header with my mate Ian. He came to us for the Reading game and we returned the compliment for this game.
We also mirrored his journey and grappled with the vagueries of the cross country rail 'service' (that's what is called an oxymoron). But on Saturday the travel gods smiled, the train was on time and the worst we had to suffer was sharing the carriage with Saints fans on their way to Coventry and Royalistas bound for St. Andrew's.
We met up with Ian and his lad Alex and it was a short walk to the ground through tidy environs that showed what Middlehaven could have been had anyone with vision and planning skill been involved.
We had time for a pint and chat at an'Old Orleans' that contrasted piquantly with the soot covered hostelry near the tracks on the way to The Riverside. Both grounds have a Subway too but theirs is a nice sandwich shop!
In the pre-match chat Phil and I predicted a win by the odd goal but Alex feared we might lose by the same margin.
Alex works in Derby with a load of Rams fans. He said that they had said that Derby would be up for it - team and crowd - and that they could get a dead cat bounce from Jewell's first game in charge and that we might suffer a reaction to the Arsenal game. But Phil and I have had a good fortnight taunting the Royalistas and Gooners that we have mixed with - maybe that accounted for the optimism!
We were in good time for the ritual gristleburger with cheese and onion and in what we took as a good sign we got given an extra cheese slice each - now that's what you call clutching at straws for your omens! Cheese straws! Ian went freestyle with a hotdog - there's no end to his adventure (see The Away End 9).
The Game
This was our first visit to Pride Park. We had been told that it was very much like The Riverside and we saw the similarities. The Away End was sold out again with The Away Enders in full voice and, for once, there was sensible and non-intrusive stewarding, despite the entire Away End standing throughout.
In the run up to kick off the safety test took place, the emergency klaxon sounded and we were given the instructions as to what to do if we heard it during the game. By now we have been stunned by the realisation that Simba was on the bench - why? Phil says that if he sees Simba's number on the fourth official's board he's going to sound the emergency klaxon himself before Simba could get on the field! I tell him he'd be in a queue.
Jewell, who had things gone differently and the rumours been true, might have been Boro manager (never something I had relished), received a rapturous reception from the home crowd. It turned out to be the biggest cheer they gave all afternoon.
How to sum up the game? In the end Phil gave me the theme - it was a game of absences.
Firstly and most obviously there was the absence of quality. For the third match in a row Boro did the 'chameleon' act, mirroring the opposition exactly; hard working, organised and tough to beat against Reading, brilliant and flowing against the Premiership-topping Gunners and poor against propping-up-the-rest Derby. You never know until they get off the bus, as Ian had told the Rams fans he knows.
One small cameo summed up the trust that most on the field had in their skills. In the second half The Boat was wide when a longish pass came his way. You could almost see the cogs turning as he thought about how to bring the ball under control with his feet. Then he gave that up as a bad idea, dropped to his knees and chest trapped it about a foot off the ground!
So lacklustre was the fare that when Stewie eyed up a lump upfield from Wheats, he latched on to it without breaking stride and half-volleyed a first-contact centre to Tunny the Turkish goal engine who swept a perfect, natural volley unstoppably past Bywater. It was both a delight and a shock - like coming across a diamond in a dung heap. It was a goal as sharp, brilliant and beautiful - and just as out of place. It also had to be a candidate for our second MOTD Goal of the Month in a row.
In The Away End that's how we celebrated.
Then there was the curious absence of passion. So poor were Derby that the crowd who were supposed to have been up for it were silenced well before we scored and they largely stayed silent. Even The Away End were struggling to keep up the noise sometimes. But it wasn't just that Derby were poor - that was predictable - but it was obvious that the team weren't up for it either. No scrap, no fight - resigned to their fate in this game and for the season.
Here's a telling fact: In a game where both teams were, allegedly, fighting for their lives in a packed stadium baying for blood (well, for a little while anyway), where Derby were looking to impress the new manager who had fired them up for his first home game and where Mr Styles was the referee - there was not a single yellow card.
More than that, not a tackle nor an incident that got anywhere near to provoking one. Rob must have needed a shot of the hard stuff after the game so acute must his withdrawal symptoms have been!
Then there was the curiosity from Gate of the absence of substitutions - at least until very, very late. There was the threat of one when O'Neil picked up a knock on the knee and Johnno's number was already held up with Gary's on the fourth official's board when the number four says he's OK and Johnno sits down again until he replaces Stewie with only seconds to go. Phil was poised to run for the klaxon button.
But no Huth for Woody - cramp (with or without silent 'm') problem solved? No respite for the tiring but also - thank goodness - no call for Simba. The only shout I want to hear for him if he's on the bench is 'Taxi!'
Then there was the absence of Mido or someone like him to hold the ball up and contest the lumped clearances. Despite the efforts - and they were huge - of Tunny the Turkish goal engine and Jeremie the flying French engine (for the second Away End in a row I'm into children's book analogies!) the ball didn't stick up front nor did we keep the ball in midfield.
Ian says, rightly, that this means we're either attacking or defending full-out all the time. That's not effective and ends up being draining.
Lastly, there was the absence of Arca on the bench. This was exactly the sort of game where we could have given him half an hour in the second half without straining him and replacing Rocky who is suspended for the Hammers game next week. But there was no sign. We hoped that didn't mean a reaction to his run out in the reserves and a set back to his recovery.
But what was present amongst the absences? Certainly, Boro were the better team by some distance but that wasn't saying much.
The defence was sound. Despite his preference to play in the centre, Pogo was steady. Wheats was immense again and Luke Young patrolled his wing with purpose and made a few very good tackles and a superb block on the rare occasions that we allowed The Rams' forwards to threaten. They tried all the combinations of strikers on the field and then their subs to nil effect.
Woody's performance had a lot to do with this. Not only was his own form better but he was back to his organising best, pulling, pushing, pointing and generally marshalling our defensive resources to great effect. Maybe Gate has got his point over.
Behind them, Schwarz was solid too on his return. He did what little he had to do well, making a couple of confidence building catches from corners and crosses and one or two smart saves. Between them all our goal was never seriously threatened and in an away game - however poor the opposition - that was creditable.
Gary O'Neil was the name we chanted most aside from Tuncay Sanli. His all round effort and wholehearted input was well recognised and appreciated - all the more so because we have seen it week in, week out since he came.
Despite the quip at The Boat's expense earlier you couldn't fault him for his effort and commitment to the cause or for the shift he put in. I'm no Rocky fan but he worked hard too and put in a couple of wicked crosses including the one at the start of the second half that caused mayhem in their box and from which The Boat hit the post with a diving header.
Stewie showed his quality again. The pass for the goal was sublime and he finished a box to box break in the second half with a very good shot which forced the best save of the game from Bywater.
Aside from the all round effort up front, Aliadiere had an effort chalked off when he produced a clever finish from a narrow angle. The verdict was 'handball' which I have struggled to see, even after replays. But at the time he didn't protest much so I guess Mr. Styles got it right.
As both sides tired towards the end we were only left with the lingering anxiety that only being up one goal brings in any Premiership game. But we saw it out and The Away End shook the stands with cheering the team off the field. They responded and there was a special cheer and chant for Tunny the Turkish goal engine who looked pleased as punch to respond as his name rang in the cold, crisp air.
Later...
For such a well behaved occasion it was a surprise to see so many police outside The Away End as we left the ground but good humour prevailed.
We walked most of the way back to the station with Ian and Alex. It was good to have seen them. We thanked them for their hospitality and good company, wished them well for Christmas and that they have the same good time ripping the p**s out of Rams fans as we have had with Gooners!
When we arrived at the station there were enough police there in their paramilitary get up to start a small war - all with nothing to do. Many, many more than we have ever seen at London stations for Away Ends in the Capital. Still, they hadn't got the pay rise they were supposed to get, Christmas is coming up and the overtime would be very welcome!
On the train journey home we met the same Saints and Royalistas we had travelled up with. We were in better mood than they were - our win to their draws - but it was a pleasantly jovial pre-Christmas sing along.
Phil and I checked out the Derby match day programme we had bought. There was a feature on Dean Leacock who was posed doing a moody in his photos. We wondered why he wears that bandanna on the field. If you were that poor why would you want to draw more attention to yourself? Maybe he comes from that school that my Mum used to reserve her metaphorical scorn for: "If you can't fight, wear a big hat."
The game was an opportunity to check out Giles Barnes as a possible right wing target for January. The word in Derby was that he would move. Well, not on that performance and not for the reported five million fee.
We also reflected on the story that Roy Disney is amongst the 'American money' that was supposed to be bidding for Derby. He'll be right at home - they are already a Mickey Mouse team.
We reckoned that four points from the next two games, taking us to twenty-one (more than half of the relegation avoiding forty point mark) at the halfway point, would give us a more comfortable base for the second half of the season and something to hold up to prospective transfer targets as a reason to join Boro. We reflected that, despite all the rumours, Ian had been sceptical about whether we'd get anyone, and if we did it would be at one minute to midnight on the thirty-first of January.
We also acknowledged that the Hammers' away form and Brum's home form may make getting those four points difficult. But we were travelling in hope again in more ways than one and that was a nice feeling to round off another trip to The Away End.
On MOTD later Tunny the Turkish goal engine's goal gets all the praise it deserves. Every time it was showed it got better. That was true of Goals On Sunday too.
'Yerjokin'aren'ya' Quote of the Week
"We would go to press conferences and take a good short hand note of every word he said over twenty minutes or so then read through it later and realise there was actually nothing of substance to tie together the string of psycho-babble buzz phrases."
Anthony Vickers on hearing that The Ex (and now Eng-er-lund's Ex) had won the Campaign For Plain English's annual 'Foot In Mouth Award'.
The Away End will be back after the Portsmouth game on 29 December. A Happy Christmas to all our readers.
'Is The Glass Half Full Or Half Empty' - a Seasonal, or should it be half-seasonal review of Boro's Premiership season at the half-way point and before the January window opens (to an icy blast?!) will follow the Boxing Day game at Birmingham.
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John Powls is a published poet with five books of his work in print. He is a regular performer of his work at major literary festivals and exhibitions in the UK and America, often working with musicians, painters with photographer Carol Ballenger.
Check out Red Shoes 250 for more of John Powls, right here.
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